GPH nurses during a recent protest (SN file photo)
October 8 ,2020
-after union and gov’t agree to negotiate
A planned strike yesterday by nurses attached to the Georgetown Public Hospi-tal (GPH) was put ‘on hold’ after the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) agreed to negotiate the demands of the workers with the Government over the next two weeks.
General Secretary of the GPSU Kempton Alexander yesterday confirmed that the union had a meeting with government, where the two discussed an agreement to have the demands made by the health workers be negotiated over a two-week period.
“The government and the union would have come to an agreement. The government has come to an agreement to meet our demands but our strike action has not been abandoned or withdrawn. But it is just put on hold, if they don’t meet our demands in the two weeks we will take an industrial move,” Alexander told this newspaper in an invited comment. Alexander said that he was not present during the discussion but this information was related to him by the Vice-President, Dawn Gardner.
Stabroek News also visited the hospital yesterday but the healthcare workers were already informed of the decision by then, and had returned to work. Owen John, representative for the GPSU, said the nurses were told that there is some kind of agreement between the union and the administration and as such the union will have to withdraw some of the activities at least temporarily until such time that they sort out their negotiation. He added that at this point in time they are just waiting to see what happens.
The health workers are demanding improved working conditions and remuneration including the payment of risk allowance to all workers in the sector. Despite threats of sanction by Attorney General Anil Nandlall, the workers went ahead with the strike yesterday morning, John informed this newspaper, but after the aforementioned agreement was announced to the workers, they returned to work.
A nurse attached to the GPHC said that he feels the time span is a bit long and some kind of militancy should be maintained so the authorities know that their demands should be taken seriously. The nurse added that he does not want their efforts to be futile, especially if nothing changes and the nurses have to go back to protesting.
However, Alexander informed that the protesting would only be on hold and that the strike action has not been abandoned. He assured that if at the end of the two weeks, their demands are not met, the union will support the nurses.
Meanwhile, Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony has welcomed the decision by the GPSU to put strike action on hold.
“I am really happy that decision was made and that we will work to resolve whatever issues come up and we can do that in a very cordial way because all of us want the best for our healthcare workers and we have to work together to improve the system,” Anthony told the Department of Public Information (DPI).
“I have really met some wonderful people during this short time who really go beyond the call of duty trying to make sure that patients are cared for. That’s what nurses and doctors and other healthcare professionals do,” he said, according to DPI.
Moving forward, Dr. Anthony said he expects cordial deliberations to take place as the Government continues to supplement measures to ensure that healthcare professionals, and other frontline workers, are given the requisite gear to deliver the best service.
More than 250 health workers at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation who work directly with COVID-19 patients have been receiving risk allowances, DPI said.
